Countdown to Sunday — Weddings and Marriages

 If we were hosting Megan and Rob’s wedding here this weekend (as we did with our eldest daughter’s a few years back), we’d be spending the day on the phone trying to arrange tents or canopies against the very likely possibility of rain.

 We’ve finally had a few days here with temperatures in the low 20s and fairly consistent sunshine, but apparently we’re done with those. The weather forecast now shows a row of rainy or cloudy days ahead, temperatures in the high teens. We’ll have to remember summers past . . .  

 But this morning’s skies looked like a glorious epiphany, suggested soaring string melodies, demanded emotional resonance . . .

 And our daughter is not getting married here this weekend, but in a lovely club in Vancouver, indoors, in rooms that were decorated by someone else, and that I don’t have to worry about at all. So I can save my fussing energy to sit and write a toast, a speech, a few heartfelt words . . .

And meanwhile, instead of setting up tables and chairs and figuring out how to tie canopies to trees, Pater is whisking me down island to a wonderful spot we once planned to honeymoon at. We’re just going for lunch today, and to wander around the little town I’ve never managed to get to (having been too green to know that a reservation must eventually be followed by a deposit . . . we honeymooned somewhere else instead, sadly). Instead of fussing about a wedding today, we’re still working on a marriage . . . it’s a series of epiphanies. . . every day a revelation, every day a new sky.

15 Comments

  1. hostess of the humble bungalow
    23 June 2011 / 3:57 pm

    Hope that you enjoy your lunch and the day exploring that small town…
    those images remind me of Tony Onley paintings!

  2. LPC
    23 June 2011 / 4:06 pm

    Oh so lovely, Mater. How serendipitous that the wedding will be inside, and dry, and that you and Pater will be the ones exploring an aspect of island romance.

  3. Susan B
    23 June 2011 / 5:16 pm

    Oh, those skies are gorgeous and dramatic, but not as dramatic as the prospect of an outdoor wedding in that weather! So glad you and Pater are taking some time to celebrate what you have together as well.

  4. Duchesse
    23 June 2011 / 10:31 pm

    Where is that missed-honeymoon site, ma? And what a relief to just let the skies surge as magnificently as they are, knowing Meg and Rob will be in that beautiful club. Oh! I am getting excited!

  5. Tiffany
    23 June 2011 / 10:37 pm

    How lovely to be able to enjoy the drama and romance of those skies without worrying about how they might affect a wedding. I hope the lunch was wonderful …

  6. pavlova
    24 June 2011 / 2:57 am

    You will be able to enjoy the wedding without the added
    worry of the weather and the stress of being the "wedding
    planner". Let the celebration begin…….

  7. indigo16
    24 June 2011 / 10:26 am

    Emin and I recently found ourselves alone in Berlin for the first time ever on a holiday since Leyla was born, it gave us real hope that we could and will actually be very happy together, that the bulk of strain comes via the kid's and once they finally fly that time will be ours again. Only this time like you I think it will be better appreciated.
    Have a great time at the wedding.

  8. materfamilias
    24 June 2011 / 3:36 pm

    Hostess: We drove down to PNP in Sooke. There's not much "town" there, is there?
    Lisa: Yes, it really is serendipitous …we're looking forward to a lovely time with family.
    Pseu: Can't imagine what we'd do if we were hosting here — except full on panic!
    Duchesse: Point No Point in Sooke — it's still a very secluded site, but 37 years ago, would have been ever so much so and very romantic. We had a lovely lunch there yesterday and plan to return for a weekend at some point, perhaps an anniversary.
    Tiffany: It was a great lunch, stunning, stunning view!
    Pavlova: We're leaving for Vanc'r this morning where the celebrations are ready to start, thanks!
    Alison: I hope you work in more and more of those times together on your own. We've found that it makes all the difference although it's hard to make them happen when you're inside the maelstrom.

  9. jane ..
    24 June 2011 / 4:08 pm

    i was delighted to meet up with megan and rob, and rob's parents, on the road last weekend, and to hear the news of their upcoming marriage .. they were both beaming .. bright and shiny ..

    have a wonderfull time .. not too many tears of joy .. and whatever other tears mothers shed at these passages in their offsprings lives ..

  10. Susan Tiner
    24 June 2011 / 7:29 pm

    Glorious epiphanies. It's always a pleasure stopping by for your thoughts.

    I'm so glad to hear about the get away time with Pater.

    Have a beautiful weekend.

  11. Anonymous
    24 June 2011 / 11:30 pm

    So well put. May this wedding come off without a hitch.

  12. Anonymous
    25 June 2011 / 2:16 am

    What good decisions everyone made. So smart of the parents to celebrate their own marriage prior to the wedding festivities. We remember the wedding on the beach and it was indeed lovely, but it's also great to have such variety. One of the many advantages of having more than one child!

    Please give Megan and Rob our very best wishes. We look forward to photographs and reports.
    Love and good wishes,
    Carol and Mike

  13. materfamilias
    25 June 2011 / 2:48 am

    Jane: They were happy to see you as well. Aren't they shiny right now?!! And thanks, I'm packing my kleenex. . .
    Susan: Thank you — always happy to have you stop by.
    Terri: Thanks. Our fingers are crossed.
    Carol & Mike: It's true, isn't it . . . variety is good, and she was probably wise not to copy-cat her big sis's wedding. We'll give them both big hugs from you two, and I look forward to sharing a cup of tea and boring you silly with photographs. See you on the beach . . .

  14. Mardel
    29 June 2011 / 10:02 pm

    Oh the skies are beautiful. How nice you can be awed without worry, and that everything was safely indoors, leaving you and Pater to treasure the changing tides together.

  15. materfamilias
    1 July 2011 / 5:43 am

    Mardel: It all worked out very well indeed.

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